In recent years, ergonomic concerns have taken on increased importance due to several factors. For example, workers are often able to be more productive when working in an ergonomically-friendly environment. Moreover, when workers are forced to work in ergonomically unsuitable environments, they may be injured and/or may perform at a substandard level. In addition, ergonomically-friendly consumer products (e.g., computers and monitors/displays, flat screen televisions, etc.) have also taken on an increased importance outside the workplace.
Many tasks involve working with personal computers and/or display monitors. For example, in some jobs personal computers and/or display monitors may be used by multiple operators at different times during a day. In some settings, one computer and/or display may be used by multiple people of different sizes and having different preferences in a single day. Given the differences in people's size and differences in their preferences, a monitor or display adjusted at one setting for one individual may be inappropriate for another individual. For instance, a child would have different physical space needs than an adult using the same computer and monitor.
In many contexts, operators are using computers for longer periods of time, which increases the importance of comfort to the operator. An operator may choose to use the display as left by the previous user despite the discomfort, annoyance, and inconvenience resulting from using settings optimized for another individual. This type of situation may result in substandard performance and even injury after prolonged use.
In some situations, people must perform operations in various postures. For example, one may be required to perform some operations in a seated position and others in a standing position. In such situations, both the seated operations and the standing operations may require the same workstation. Such workstations may include a computer monitor (i.e., display), a keyboard, and/or a mouse.
Moreover, as displays grow in size and weight, ease of adjustability is an important consideration. For displays requiring frequent adjustment, adjustability for displays has been provided using an arm coupled with gas springs, where the arm is hingedly coupled with the desk or a vertical surface. However, the gas springs are costly and the gas may leak out over time. In addition, the gas springs require a significant amount of space, for instance arm length, which can be at a premium in certain applications, such as in hospitals.